Author: K. Florian Klemp

March 17, 2015 - K. Florian Klemp
Thanks to brewing giant Guinness, stout is one of the most far-reaching and recognizable types of beer in the world. The brewery’s global march began more than 200 years ago, and the influence and pervasiveness of dry stout is still vigorous, especially among the new wave of brewers. Though dry stout is synonymous with Ireland,... View Article

January 14, 2015 - K. Florian Klemp
We have become rather smitten with sours in recent years, an affair that shows no sign of waning. The venerable examples are more attractive than ever, and brewers are embracing them passionately. This, in turn, has piqued great interest from homebrewers, who now have at hand the necessary design and ingredients. Brewing sours by traditional... View Article

December 16, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
Traditional beer styles are often closely identified by cities, regions, strength or particular moment of invention. Doppelbock (double bock) can claim all of those. Its roots lie in the North German city of Einbeck, but is now synonymous with Bavaria. More specifically, the prototype is a monastic creation, designed for sustenance during Lenten deprivation. The... View Article

November 16, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
The catchall term “Scottish ale” is used for a group of modestly hopped, malty and sociable brews. Somewhat generic, it often leads to rather limited expectations. But the clan of authentic Scottish ale being made today is actually quite diverse, the progeny of the brews that survived the relative famine of the 1960s and came... View Article

November 4, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
There is no denying the popularity of the new wave of “wild” brews. These cutting-edge, contemporary versions are variously inspired by the aged sour, earthy and musty brews of Belgium and Germany and old stock ales of Britain. European brewers use both anachronistic and more modern techniques today to get that natural, primitive personality, but... View Article

August 20, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
Belgian brews were once considered mysterious and idiosyncratic, but have become mainstream and far from unusual. Now, it is more the sentiment of tradition that makes them so engaging. Belgian brewers are famous for wild and woolly lambics and sours, rustic farmhouse and wheat brews and spicy, savory abbey and monastic beers. Monastic brews made... View Article

August 15, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
Brown ale may never command the attention of IPA or Imperial stout, but neither is it in any danger of fading away. American brewers have ensured a steady number among their more celebrated brews. In Britain, where brown ale is an uncommon find, quite the opposite is true, having declined severely since the 1960s after... View Article

July 1, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
Homebrewing is no different from any other hobby. It is undertaken out of curiosity, as a means of self-expression or perhaps even as the foundation for a career. Nearly all of us start from the same place: rudimentary brewing involving extract, specialty grains, a hop addition or two and dried yeast. At some point, though,... View Article

June 30, 2014 - K. Florian Klemp
Outfitting a homebrewery capable of making 10-gallon batches allows for an efficient use of precious brewing time. It comes with a caveat though: 10 or more gallons is a lot of one particular brew to have on hand. One solution is to turn it into two different brews. There are many ways to approach this,... View Article